Permitting - November 2014

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Created: Wednesday, 26 November 2014 13:48

Published: Wednesday, 26 November 2014 13:48

New York Quarry Eyes Expansion

According to the Post-Bulletin, a zoning change could lead to expanded sand and gravel quarry operations near a residential area in Cascade Township directly north of Rochester, N.Y., and some township residents aren’t happy about the rezoning. Milestone Minerals has 140 acres of land near 55th Street Northeast and U.S. Highway 63, and the company is looking to expand its quarry operation to the north of its current quarry.

At a township Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, neighbors expressed concerns about noise, dust, the impact on the nearby Zumbro River and effects on property values. The move would require rezoning the property from an A-3 agricultural district to an Agricultural Resource Commercial District-Aggregate Extraction and Reuse. The planning commission recommended approval of the rezone on a 3-2 vote and sent it to the Cascade Town Board.

Wisconsin Company Seeks Permit

Jordan Sands wants to open a new stone quarry in the town of Byron, Wis., according to the Fond-du-Lac Register. The Chilton, Wis.,-based company sent letters to residents living near the proposed 43-acre site, inviting them to attend an informational meeting. The meeting will be open to the public.

The quarry site is part of the Jim Geelan farm on Highway 175 between Church Road and County Highway B, southeast of Hobbs Woods, a 60-acre county park. Company officials said the purpose of the meeting is to explain the proposed project and answer questions regarding the potential development of a stone quarry. Company officials declined to release the scope of the project, instead waiting for the meeting to reveal plans for the proposed quarry.

Nonmetallic mining is permitted in the town of Byron as a special use only in the districts in which it is listed as a special use, according to town ordinance.

Minnesota Operation Targets Silica Sand

A water-quality permit for the Jordan Sands mining and processing plant in Mankato, Minn., will be the subject of an informational hearing held by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. According to the Mankato Free Press, Jordan Sands is seeking to mine 70 acres of an existing quarry for silica sand, which it will process and transport out by rail. The quarry is north of Mankato along Third Avenue.

The agency granted Jordan Sands an air-emissions permit in October 2013, and accepted public comments on the water quality permit until Oct. 27, 2014. This permit relates to the quality of the water the mine will use and discharge. A separate permit details the amount of water the mine can use and is handled by the Department of Natural Resources.

The vast majority of the mine’s permitted water discharge will be comprised of uncontaminated aquifer water. To reach and mine the sand, the company plans to remove aquifer water and discharge it into a creek. The draft version of the permit allows the mine to discharge an average of 2.88 million gpd of uncontaminated aquifer water and rain water into the creek and, eventually, the Minnesota River.

Kentucky Quarry Battles Permit Process

Charles Deweese Construction representatives returned to the Franklin-Simpson, Ken., Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustments to ask for a new conditional use permit allowing the company to operate a rock quarry on land owned by company head Charles Deweese and his wife, Penny. According to the Park City Daily News, board members are being asked to consider evidence regarding Deweese’s application for a conditional use permit to replace the permit that the board previously revoked.

Deweese originally secured a permit from the board in 2012 and subsequently gained a non-coal surface mining permit from the state to operate the quarry there. The permit from the zoning board was revoked, however, after it was found that the company was unable to comply with a condition that required trucks to leave the quarry by turning onto Ditmore Ford Road, because Franklin and Simpson County governments passed ordinances regulating the weight of vehicles on the road.